Love, Pain and Misery
by nadene-seddiefan
Summary: She may be rich but Sam hates her life, it's full of pain and misery. With no friends, a judgemental mother and the boy who made her life so lifeless, how will she cope? Especially with a certain person trying to pick up his mess by patch working her heart back together. An AU Seddie story, hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: The very beginning. **

It was the end of the school day and here Sam Puckett was walking down the main hallway of Ridgeway high school trying to get out of the place. She was picking where she stepped carefully trying to avoid everyone especially one person in particular. Speaking of him she was just passing him now but thankfully she knew he wouldn't notice her as he was too busy making out with one of the cheerleaders. Trust by what Sam saw that it wasn't a pretty sight he had her pushed up onto the lockers and all. With that Sam grunted in pain slightly as she suddenly hit the floor.

"It's rude to stare" one of the other cheerleaders snarled at Sam as she moved her foot back from tripping her up.

"I wasn't. Anybody not looking in that direction will know what's going on from the clanging of the lockers and all of your friends groans" Sam responded.

"If you want to make out with the make out king then you're going to have to get in line behind me" she replied. "I wouldn't bother though it's not like Freddie Benson would do that with you anyway. He'd probably just slap you right in the face" she continued to shout at her from a distance seems Sam had already walked away.

Sam got out of the building as quick as she could and from a distance she could see that her car was in its usual mess after sitting in the schools parking lot all day. It was covered in toilet paper, eggs, flour and burst water balloons. She was going to have to stop and have it cleaned on her way home again so her mother didn't notice. That was the only good thing about coming from a rich family; they had that much money that her parents didn't notice that money was disappearing and going towards all the daily car cleans.

"Hi Samantha, how was school?" her mother Mrs Puckett greeted as she walked into her home. "Oh my goodness gracious! What an earth happened to your face?" she questioned looking concerned as she rushed towards Sam.

Sam immediately froze. She had forgotten about what had happened to her face and had planned on covering it up but had just forgotten due to that particular event happening so early on in the day.

"It's not as bad as it looks" Sam assured her. "I just had an accident during gym class. I have a note from the school nurse and everything which I've left in my locker" she lied.

"Very well then" Mrs Puckett nodded. "You will have to cover it up before we go out tonight though, we have dinner plans. Here's a dress I had picked out for you, you best go get ready" she added.

"Dinner plans? With who?" Sam asked.

"I ran into an old friend today. We had some history between us but we sorted things out over coffee and now we've been invited over for dinner" Mrs Puckett explained. "Now please go get ready, I don't want to be late. Make sure you cover up that bruised cheek of yours" she told her.

A little over an hour later Sam and her mother were stood at the front door of the apartment they were going to be having dinner at. Sam was wearing the ice blue dress that was picked out for her by her mother who told her that it went perfectly with her eyes. Her bruised cheek was also all covered up and within seconds of knocking on the door a lady happily came rushing to the door.

"Pam I'm so glad you could make it" she gushed wrapping Mrs Puckett up into a hug.

"Me to Marissa, thank you for having us" Mrs Puckett replied. "Sam this is Mrs Benson"

"You must be Samantha, it's lovely to see you" Mrs Benson smiled as she welcomed them into her home. "So, what school do you go to?" she asked Sam.

"Erm, Ridgway High" Sam replied.

"Aww my son goes there too" she instantly beamed. "You might know him; he's in his room finishing his History paper that I've been trying to get him to do. Let me go and get him"

Sam instantly froze; she was going to be having dinner with someone from school. Everyone at school hates her, she dreads going to school and now she was dreading being present at this dinner more than ever.

"This is my son Freddie" Mrs Benson smiled and Sam instantly began coughing and spluttering on her glass of water. She wished that she had figured that out the minute she was introduced to Mrs Benson. Of course her son was going to be thee Freddie Benson!

"Sam honey, are you alright?" her mother questioned.

"Yes I'm fine" Sam lied.

"Freddie dear this is Samantha" Mrs Benson continued.

"Yeh we actually know each other. Aren't you in my History-"

"History! Sam maybe you could help Freddie with his History paper" Mrs Benson suggested, cutting Freddie off.

"Oh no you wouldn't want my help. Surely you would want to do it on your own so it's your own work" Sam babbled on trying to avoid having to help Freddie with his school work.

"No its okay. Maybe you could go over what I've written so far?" Freddie asked.

"Go on Sam" Mrs Puckett smiled, feeling as if it was a nice idea.

"Erm okay" she finally agreed and with that Freddie started walking down the hall to his bedroom with a very nervous Sam following.

The pair entered Freddie's bedroom and Freddie flopped down comfortably on his bed leaving Sam stood in the centre of the room looking in any direction that wasn't towards him. She didn't want to be there and she didn't understand why he wanted her there, he was an A student after all.

"You don't have to help me with my paper. It's already written" Freddie told Sam and she immediately turned around more than ready to leave the room. "But please stay" Freddie practically begged.

"Why?" Sam suddenly questioned.

"I need to talk to you" he told her, causing her to frown. "Want to sit down?" he offered and with that Sam took the seat that was furthest away from him as possible. She figured that it would be easier to just sit down instead of awkwardly standing there in the middle of the room.

"How's your cheek?" Freddie asked.

"Bruised" Sam spat. "Surely you should know you're the one doing these things to me or getting your friends to do your dirty work for you" she continued angrily.

"I didn't set this up, I actually told everyone to start leaving you alone today but I guess they didn't" Freddie told her.

"Of course you did" Sam replied, rolling her eyes and not believing a word he had just said to her.

"I don't suppose you remember when we were younger and used to be friends?" Freddie asked and judging by her facial expression she was clueless. "Neither did I until yesterday. You see I drove to see my father yesterday, I thought I'd finally tell him what I thought of him for walking out on me and my mother when I was just six years old. He lives about an hour away from here. He left because he had an affair and my mother believed that it was with your Mom. When I got there though he finally told the truth about who he had the affair with" Freddie continued to explain.

"Who was it with?" Sam found herself asking.

"My auntie, my mother's sister" Freddie answered. "So when I came home and broke the news to my mother that's when she reminded me that we used to be friends and I think that is why our mothers are both having another go at their friendship again. I took my father's affair out on you Sam and now I know it's not your fault. I'm so sorry" he apologised.

"So you've been picking on me and making my life a misery for years because you thought my mother had an affair with your father. Even if that was true it still wouldn't have been my fault. It's not like I was the one that got accused of having the affair" Sam replied bitterly.

"Sam, Freddie dinner is ready" Mrs Benson called from the kitchen and with that Sam got up extremely eager to leave the room.

"Sam wait" Freddie said, grabbing her attention. "Can you forgive me?" he asked.

"No I can't" Sam replied. "You're the reason everyone hates me, you're the reason I have no friends and you're the reason why I hate my life" she raised her voice at him then instantly began making her way to the dinner table.

As Sam sat down at the dinner table her jaw suddenly dropped open as her mouth began to water at the sight of the delicious feast that was on display. She quickly snapped her mouth shut though when she spotted Freddie watching her carefully from across the table and with that Sam immediately started helping herself to Mrs Benson's honey roast ham hoping that the quicker she ate her dinner the quicker she would get out of there.

"So Sam, have you got your prom dress yet?" Mrs Benson asked as the four began to tuck into their dinner.

"Erm I actually don't do prom" Sam replied as she winced at Mrs. Bensons judgemental reaction.

"I don't understand it either Marissa, she's always refused to go to those types of events." Mrs Puckett explained.

"Surely you would love to get all dolled up in a gorgeous dress" Mrs Benson guessed. "I bet the boys would go crazy over a beautiful girl like you, right Freddie?" she added, nudging him slightly.

"Yeh I could probably name some" he replied awkwardly.

"I can't wear dresses to school so I don't know why I would chance going to prom" Sam told them.

"You're always saying that Samantha but I never quite get what you mean" her mother said but Freddie knew. He knew what the cheerleaders would do to Sam if she wore a skirt or dress to school.

"Do your friends go to prom Sam?" Mrs Benson questioned.

"Yes but prom isn't my thing and they understand that" Sam lied. What friends? She didn't have any thanks to the boy sitting across from her.

"Why don't you come with me and my friends?" Freddie offered.

"Why would I do that?" Sam snapped.

"I'm just trying to be nice" he replied causing Sam to roll her eyes, according to her he didn't know the meaning of the word.

**A/N: Welcome to my new story! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. I feel that this story is going to be much different from all my others. Thank you, I'll update soon, Nadene.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: A Saturday Like No Other. **

It was the weekend and usually Sam puckett would wake up feeling slightly refreshing and free knowing she could spend two full days locked up in her bedroom away from Freddie Benson and his many minions. She would always start off her saturday morning with a large helping of bacon and eggs only to return to her room for a day of listening to music and watching movies that would help her get out of her head and forget about her awful life. That wouldn't last forever though because first thing on a Monday morning Sam would have to return to school where she would face a brand new week of recieving many war wounds. This current Saturday didn't go to plan like usual though. Since her mother was so set on re-building her friendship with Mrs Benson, Sam had been dragged round to the Benson's apartment again.

Freddie Benson wasn't home, thank God but after two hours of hearing her mother and Mrs. Benson re-telling old stories about their past, Sam had truly reached her limit. She even offered to do Mrs Benson's dishes from lunch so she could get some time to herself. Crazy right, Sam Puckett never cleans but here she is scrubbing away in the kitchen whilst hearing the laughter of the two women who were in the other room.

"Hey" greeted a voice causing Sam to tense up as soon as she heard it. Great, he was home. "If I knew you were coming over I would have stayed in" Freddie told her causing her to frown as she watched him jump up to sit on top of the kitchen counter. "So, my Mom's got you cleaning her house then" he commented.

"I offered" Sam told him.

"That bored without me here huh" Freddie smirked only earning himself a death glare shot at him from Sam. "So were not at the joking stage of our friendship" he commented.

"We will never get to the joking stage because we will never be friends" Sam told him straight.

"We used to be friends" Freddie replied.

"That was then, this is now" she told him and he could feel the pain in her voice. So Freddie didn't say anything else, he just picked up the dish towel and helped her clean. Sam washed and he dried, it was a silent arrangement and they finished the dishes together. Sam tried to pretend that Freddie wasn't there but she could see him staring at her intently and she found it disrupting.

"Sam, Freddie" Mrs Puckett called. "Get in here we have something to show you" she told them.

"What is it?" Sam asked as they entered the room.

"Look what we found" Mrs Benson smiled as she pressed play on the DVD player.

It was a video of the two of them from when they were very young. They must of been about five years old, Sam had her tap shoes on and Freddie had his camera in his hands. They were smiling, playing and laughing. Sam couldn't remember the last time she laughed or even smiled. She looked happy in the video as she danced away whilst Freddie snapped pictures of her.

"What are you kids doing?" Mrs Benson asked as she interrupted their playing time.

"Were pretending we've grown up" Sam told her as she continued to tap dance away.

"When we grow up Sam's going to be a famous dancer" Freddie told his Mom. "And I'm going to be a famous camera man who will take photo's of Sam everywhere she goes" he added as he continued to take photo's of his friend.

"It looks like you two are having fun" Mrs Benson smiled.

"Yes, Sam and I are going to be best friends forever" Freddie smiled as he gave his best friend the tightest and most warmest hug.

Guilt suddenly ran through Freddie's chest even more, he couldn't begin to imagine how Sam was feeling, he could see the pain and misery in her eyes though and that hurt him enough.

"I can't watch this" Sam said but only Freddie heard. "Mom, I have a dance rehearsal in twenty minutes. We need to leave now, it's the last rehearsal before my big recital on Wednesday" she reminded her mother.

"Oh your recital, you two should come along on Wednesday and she how amazing Sam's dancing is now" Mrs Puckett beamed as she invited Freddie and Mrs Benson to come.

"Mom can we leave now please" Sam begged already dreading the thought of Freddie watching her dance.

"I'll drive you" Freddie insisted.

"What a lovely idea, thank you Freddie" Mrs Puckett smiled.

"Fine" Sam muttered as she grabbed her bag and headed out of the door.

The car ride started off silent and awkward. Sam kept her head turned staring out of her window as she tried to erase the memory of the video she just watched and Freddie he was concentrating on the road ahead of him.

"So you still dance then" Freddie started, trying to break the silence between them.

"Yes. I guess you've found something you weren't able to destroy and take away from me" Sam snapped.

"Have you thought anymore about going to prom?" Freddie asked, ignoring what she had just said.

"No there's nothing to think about, I never go, I'm not changing tradition now" she told him.

"If it's because your expected to wear a dress you can go with your friends if you want to instead of me and mine and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. I promise" he replied.

"Did you not hear me when I told you yesterday? I don't have any friends and your the reason why. You took everyone away from me when you decided to hate me and everyone who tried to become my friend you befriended them first and made them hate me!" Sam yelled at him.

"I'm really sorry" Freddie apologised once more but this was one of the situations where an apology was no where near good enough. "Your Mom forgave my Mom and now their friends again. Is there any chance you can forgive me so we can be friends again?" he begged as he pulled up outside Sam's dance school.

"No! There's no chance at all!" she yelled once more as she picked up her dance bag.

"There's a girl waving at you over there. I thought you didn't have any friends" he suddenly questioned.

"That's my cousin" Sam snapped as she got out of the car and slammed the door shut hard.

Sam didn't tell him what time she needed picking up. So he didn't leave, he stayed sat in his car outside the dance school waiting for her to finish. He waited for the whole two hours until she finally came out.

"How did you know what time I'd be finished?" Sam questioned.

"I didn't, I waited for you" Freddie replied, taking Sam by surprise.

"Well, why did you do that? It's not like I wanted you to pick me up" she responded.

"Because I'm going to do what ever it takes to make it up to you and plus it's not safe to walk around this part of town at night" Freddie explained. "Especially in just that leotard your now wearing" he added awkwardly causing Sam to turn her head away embarrassed.

"Can you drive me home?" Sam asked.

"Sure, but your Mom's still at my apartment" Freddie told her. "Where do you live?" he questioned.

"Actually just go back to your apartment. My Mom's going to know something's up if I don't go back" she told him.

"Why doesn't your Mom know about the way I've treated you?" Freddie asked.

"I just never got round to telling her" Sam sighed.

"Sam-" Freddie started.

"please don't" she cut him off.

Those were the last words Sam and Freddie exchanged with one another that day, once getting back to Freddie's apartment Sam got out of her dance wear and soon after her mother was finally ready to leave. For now their mothers couldn't see what was going on between them, Mrs Puckett didn't seem to know how badly Freddie had been treating her daughter and Freddie understood why Sam hated him so much and knew that she had an acceptable reason to. He didn't want her to hate him though, he wanted to be her friend again and most of all wanted her to be happy but for that to happen he knew he had to work a whole lot harder.

**A/N: Thank you all for all your reviews, glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Happy New Year everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, please review, thank you, Nadene!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: Manic Monday. **

Sam hated Monday's mainly because it was the day of the week that was the furthest day away from the weekend and weekends mean't no school. Plus Monday's were always the worst days of her school week as Freddie and his friends always felt that they had two days of not making Sam's life a misery to make up for. Sam wasn't sure how this current Monday was going to turn out though seems over the past few days Freddie Benson had his heart set on making everything up to Sam. She didn't see him yesterday and that day having nothing to do with him and being able to hide away in her bedroom made her feel like she could breathe again. Sam took one final glance at herself in her bedroom mirror as she brushed down her jeans and oversized t-shirt, clothes that her mother hated. As Sam stepped out of her bedroom and reached the bottom of her staircase he was there at her home, Freddie Benson was sat on her couch in her living room and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe again.

"What are you doing here?" Sam suddenly questioned. "How did you know where I lived?" she asked.

"My Mom knew your address" Freddie answered. "I hope me stopping by doesn't upset you to much" he continued standing back up from his seat on the couch.

"This is the one place I had left where you couldn't ruin my life" Sam commented. "What brings you here?" she asked again.

"I've brought you something" he told her as he picked up a shopping bag off of her coffee table.

"I don't want your gift" Sam replied.

"Oh Freddie, what a lovely morning surprise" Mrs Puckett smiled as she greeted him with a warm hug. "What brings you here?" she asked.

"I'm delivering a present for Sam" he told her.

"How sweet" Mrs Puckett commented. "What is it?" she asked her daughter.

Sam hated her mother right now. She wished her Mom spent a few more minutes getting ready so she didn't walk in and witness what was going on between her and Freddie. Better again though Sam wished Freddie didn't come over at all.

"It's a skirt" Sam replied coldly as she pulled it out of the shopping bag.

"You should wear it today to thank Freddie" Mrs Puckett suggested.

"Mom you know my skirt rule" Sam replied.

"Nothings going to happen to you" Freddie tried to assure her.

"I have plenty of my own skirts, if I wanted to wear one surely I'd wear one of my own" she shot at him.

"Just wear it Sam, it's not going to hurt" Mrs. Puckett ordered not liking the way her daughter had just spoke to Freddie.

Yes it would, Sam knew it would. If only her mother knew just why she couldn't wear a skirt to school, if only her mother knew what Freddie had done to her all these years but she didn't and that was why Sam walked up the staircase to her bedroom to put this skirt on.

Sam stared at her reflection in the mirror for the second time that morning. She still wore the same oversized baggy t-shirt and sneakers but this time she had a skirt on. A skirt that Freddie had brought her. She had to admit that if he had picked this skirt out himself then he actually had good taste. That wasn't going to score him any brownie points though.

"It wasn't my intention to come here today and force you into wearing this skirt to school" Freddie started as him and Sam walked out of her house and down her garden path. "I thought that if I brought you a skirt then you would see it as a symbol. A symbol that told you I'm not going to let anything happen to you if you chose to wear any skirt to school" he explained. "Plus I also thought it would be nice to buy you something" he added.

"You can't fix this by buying me things" Sam told him. "You can't buy me back!" she shot at him.

"Yes I know" Freddie nodded. "Do you want a ride to school?" he asked.

"No" Sam replied. "I need to drive myself" she told him before getting into her car and driving off to school.

Once Sam pulled up in the school parking lot she stayed sat in her car for a few moments as she watched all the students making their way into the school building. She got lost in her thoughts as she wondered what this day was going to bring. She usually knew when it was safe to walk down a school hallway, when she should duck or dodge someone in particular or when she should miss a certain class because she had heard about some humiliating plan people had to do to her. Noticing that there wasn't many people left in the parking lot Sam kept her head down low as she made her way to the school entrance hoping that nobody would notice her.

Sam didn't realise that Freddie was secretly waiting for her outside at the schools entrance. He carefully kept a few paces behind her as she walked down the main hallway making sure that nothing happened to her. Freddie finally stopped following her when she reached her locker making him go to his own. He figured she'd be safe there for now.

"Hey Freddie" one of the cheerleaders greeted as he opened up his locker and began looking for his books for English class. "Were all here waiting" she informed him.

"Oh morning girls" he greeted them before turning back to his locker.

"I said were all here waiting" she repeated once more as she referenced herself and the four other cheerleaders in the queue behind her.

"Ahh" Freddie sighed as he realised what they were there for. "Sorry but I'm not feeling it today" he apologised.

"Are you saying you don't want to make out with us?" she questioned. "Even me in particular" she added.

"Yes that's what I'm saying" Freddie replied.

"Dude are you alright?" Brad his friend questioned.

"Fine" he nodded.

Freddie then turned back to his locker and talking to Brad as he took no notice of the five cheerleaders crowding themselves together in a huddle to have a group chat about what was wrong with the one and only Freddie Benson. He didn't pay any attention to them until he suddenly heard one of the comments that the head cheerleader Valerie made.

"Well, well, well girls I see Samantha Puckett with a skirt on" Valerie pointed out. "She knows the rule" she added.

"Leave her alone" Freddie ordered as he turned back around to face the girls.

"Why should we?" Tasha another cheerleader questioned.

"Because I told you to" he replied.

"Sam knows the rule. She shouldn't be allowed to wear it" Tasha told him.

"Why because she looks good in it?" Freddie fired at them taking everyone by surprise.

"Why should we drop our rule now?" Valerie asked with a mischievous smile spread across her lips. "Didn't you create it?" she questioned pushing her luck.

"Because prom is next week and I still haven't picked my date. Anyone who does anything to Sam will be out of the running to be my date" he told them as he slammed his locker door shut and watched the smiles fall off of the girls faces before making his way over to Sam.

"Hey" he greeted leaning against the locker that was next to Sam's. He took her by surprise and he knew that as her face looked up from the book that she was reading.

"What are you doing here?" Sam questioned frantically as she looked around to see if anyone had noticed Freddie talking to her and that was when she noticed a group of cheerleaders watching her. Their faces were full of fury.

"So the cheerleaders aren't going to bother you for now" he started ignoring the question she had just asked. "That just leaves me with the boys and Wendy but they'll be fine when I talk to them, it's the girls that are harder to put a stop to but it's done. Don't worry about Wendy she's cool" Freddie explained.

"The girls are harder to put a stop to" Sam frowned "That's strange because wasn't it you that started all of this. Wasn't it you that gave them all of those demands that they suddenly don't want to put a stop to" she snapped.

"Yes it was me-" Freddie started as Sam cut him off.

"Yes it was you. I'm not sticking up for them because they should learn not to be sheep but part of the reason they don't want to stop being so mean is probably because they don't understand why your suddenly trying to be a decent person. Just like I don't understand why your trying to be my friend" Sam explained. "Their going to stop anyway because their used to you telling them what to do" she added.

"I've told you that I went to visit my father-" Freddie started only to be cut off once more.

"Yes which made you realise that you took everything out on a six year old little girl when you thought everything that happened was due to her mother. It had nothing to do with my Mom and even if it did it still wouldn't have been my fault" Sam shouted at him. "You didn't even have a valid reason to do all the things that you've done" she added voice now sounding shaken and hurt.

The school bell then rang through the school halls causing Sam to slam her locker shut and scurry off to class.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all for your reviews so far, please review this chapter. Speak to you all soon, thank you, Nadene.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four- Lunch Hours**

It was appearing to Freddie that it was going to be much harder to earn Sam's forgiveness then he originally thought as he twisted his fork around his lunch tray in the school's cafeteria the following day. Freddie hadn't spoken to Sam since their little outburst at her locker yesterday and that was due to him not quite knowing what he should say to her next. He now knew that he had to choose his words more wisely when he spoke to her because it didn't take much for him to mess up even more and for Sam to explode with rage at him.

"How's your chicken?" Shane a friend of Freddie's asked.

"It's fine I guess" Freddie replied as he continued to twist his fork around the tray.

"You don't have the chicken. You chose the pasta" Shane told him.

"Oh" Freddie sighed as he finally awoke from his thoughts and looked up at his friends for the first time that lunch period.

"What's going on with you?" Brad questioned. "You've been off since yesterday when you told the girls to leave Sam alone, that's not like you. I thought you were just having an off day but your clearly not" he continued.

"I may have found out the truth" Freddie replied.

"What does that mean?" Shane asked.

"I found out that the person my father had an affair with wasn't Sam's mother. It wasn't Sam's fault that my family fell apart and I've spent all these years taking things out on her" Freddie explained. "I need to make it up to her but it's easier said then done. She doesn't forgive easily but I need her to forgive me so I can forgive myself" he told them.

"Even if it was Sam's mother it wouldn't have been Sam's fault anyway" Brad pointed out.

"That's exactly what Sam said when I told her why I hated her for all these years" Freddie replied.

"I don't think I would forgive you either after some of the stuff you've done" Brad commented.

"So why did you put up with me for all these years and go along with some of it?" Freddie questioned with a frown.

"I'm your friend Freddie and I realised quite recently that what we've all been doing all this time is wrong. I knew you wouldn't listen to me so I just hoped that you would soon realise to and it looks like you have" Brad explained. "Plus I've always kept out of your more extreme schemes to mess with Sam's life" he added.

"What do you suggest I do?" Freddie asked.

"Don't give up" Shane told him. "Also tell her about needing to forgive yourself if you haven't already. You've been through a lot of pain as well" he suggested.

"Are you two alright with being nice to Sam now?" Freddie questioned earning two nods from his two friends. "Great! Now I've just got to talk to Gibby and Wendy" he told them.

"Don't worry Gibby probably hasn't even acknowledged what we've been doing to Sam all these years and Wendy will understand she's cool" Brad replied.

Wendy was cool indeed and nobody knew just how cool she was. Wendy entered the schools cafeteria and before joining her group of friends she made her way to the back of the cafeteria where Sam's table was located. She sat down across from Sam taking her by surprise because their annual meetings don't usually occur this often. Perhaps today was the day that everyone found out just how cool Wendy was because the schools favourite red head was indeed a sneaky genius and had been for quite some time.

"What are you doing?" Sam questioned. "You don't usually come and find me in such a public place and plus we last spoke only a couple of days ago" she pointed out.

"Well I found out from some cheerleaders that I'm suddenly supposed to start being nice to you" Wendy smiled.

"If you stay sat here now people are going to figure everything out" Sam replied.

"I think it would be good for Freddie to find out that someone didn't listen to his demands all these years" Wendy replied. "We would have made great friends Sam, why didn't you let me be your friend when all this started? she asked.

"If I did then they would have just done all the things they've done to me to you as well" Sam told her. "This way you warned me when you could about all their schemes and I thank you for that. You saved me from a lot of pain and injuries" she explained. "And plus they truly are your friends, I didn't want to take you away from that" she added.

"Okay but I have always thought of you as my friend all these years. When your ready to accept me as yours you know where to find me" Wendy smiled once more as she got up from her seat more than ready to expose herself.

Wendy took a seat joining the three boys at their lunch table. She could hear the cheerleaders laughing and gossiping on the table located next to her, she had never been like them and it was clear that she was more like Sam. Wendy took a bite out of her sandwich and then it came, the question that she had been waiting for.

"Where have you been?" Shane asked. "I thought you were with Gibby" he added.

"No Gibby is off raiding the schools supply of liquid soap" Wendy replied. "And as for me I've been with Sam" she told them watching the shock appear on all of their faces.

"Are you talking about Sam Puckett?" Brad questioned and Wendy instantly nodded with a smile on her face.

"Please tell me you were nice to her" Freddie begged.

"I've always been nice to her" Wendy informed him and by the look of confusion on Freddie's face she knew that he needed more information. "I don't know if you've ever noticed but I've never gone along with your demands. When you had a bad scheme planned I've always told Sam and together we made sure she was no where near the scene and that's why they never worked out" she explained.

"Wendy thank you!" Freddie smiled. He never knew that it was possible to feel so happy that a friend had betrayed him all these years. "I need to talk to Sam. Do you know where I can find her?" he asked.

"She eats right at the back, furthest table to the left" Wendy told him before taking another bite of her sandwich and popping a grape into her mouth.

Freddie got up from the lunch table not quite knowing what he was going to say to Sam but with his newly learnt information he felt that now would be a good time to talk to her in hope that he would start to earn her forgiveness. He walked to the back of the schools cafeteria, a part of it that he had never entered before and that was when he saw Sam hidden away at the table in the corner.

"So this is where you eat" Freddie spoke as he stood next to Sam's table. "Can I sit?" he asked and surprisingly Sam nodded.

"I figured you would be bothering me again soon" Sam commented referring to the fact that they hadn't spoke since yesterday morning. "Have you spoken to Wendy?" she found herself asking.

"Yes and I felt many different emotions when I found out what she had been up to all these years" he replied.

"Do you want to hit me to make up for it?" she questioned sarcastically.

"No not at all" Freddie frowned. "They were all good emotions. I'm so pleased that someone was actually looking out for you through all of this. I just wish she didn't have to and that I didn't make my stupid decision to hate you" he explained.

"You can't change your past Freddie" Sam stated.

"Yes but I can use it to help me turn into a better person and hopefully you can forgive me and we can be friends" Freddie responded. "Do you think you could ever forgive me?" he asked.

"I don't know" Sam shrugged honestly. "You've put me through a lot Freddie. I wonder if it would be best that we just forget ever knowing each other. That way when high school is finally over I'll be able to move on and actually have a life" she suggested with a sigh of relief with the thought of how amazing having a fresh start would be.

"I'd love for you to have a life because you deserve it-" Freddie started. "But I can't forget about you, our friendship when we were little meant everything. We were such good friends Sam, we used to play together all the time, I used to come to all of your dance recitals feeling so proud of my little friend and afterwards we would always go to the duck pond to celebrate how well you did" he continued.

"Freddie-" Sam started as Freddie watched her current facial expression intently. She seemed shocked and confused by what he was telling her which only made him continue talking even more in hope that he was one step closer to her forgiving him.

"I know you've been hurt Sam but I've been through a lot of pain to and I took a lot of it out on you. What hurt me the most was when I found out about the affair and thought that the person I cared about the most caused it. You were the most important person to me when I was little and that's why I acted the way I did. I'm so sorry for it all and I can't forgive myself for it without your forgiveness" he explained. "I'm going to be at your dance recital tomorrow and I'm going to be even more proud of you then I've ever been before" he added.

**A/N: I absolutely loved writing this chapter. What do you all think of Wendy? Do you think Freddie's any closer to being forgiven? Please let me know! Thank you for all your previous reviews, Nadene. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five- Following Tradition**

Sam Puckett stared in the mirror of her dressing table which was located in her dressing room where she was busy getting ready for her all important dance recital. Her hair had been pinned back tightly into a French plait, it was so tight that it almost felt like her hair was being pulled out of her head. She was more than used to that feeling now though. Sam looked down checking her current costume attire, she was wearing a sparkling leotard, her dance tights and the ribbons on her ballet shoes were tied perfectly. She just needed to put on her tutu then she would be completely ready for her show. This was her moment.

"Hey" Freddie greeted as he knocked on Sam's dressing room door which was wide open. She liked to feel the fresh air.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"I've come to watch you dance" Freddie replied as he stepped into her dressing room.

"You know what I mean" Sam frowned. "What are you doing in my dressing room?" she questioned.

"I always used to come and wish you luck before each performance" Freddie pointed out.

"Yes but that was before" Sam replied.

Freddie watched Sam closely for a moment before placing his hand into his jacket pocket and pulling something very specific out of it. He laid his hand out flat letting Sam lay her eyes on what he was holding. She knew what it was, it was a hair pin a very beautiful one in fact. Freddie carefully stepped forward towards Sam as he gently placed the hair pin in her hair.

"I always used to put a new and unique hair pin in your hair before every one of your recitals" Freddie reminded her.

"I thought I told you that you couldn't buy me back" Sam told him firmly.

"This isn't me buying you back. This is me following my traditions" he replied.

"It matches my costume. How did you manage that? she asked, looking at it closely in the mirror. It was absolutely beautiful, she knew that and so did Freddie.

"That's just luck I guess" Freddie smiled.

"Sam it's five minutes until show time" a lady called as she passed Sam's dressing room.

"I better go and take my seat" Freddie announced. "Good luck tonight" he grinned before leaving the room feeling very excited about the evening that was ahead of him.

Freddie took his seat in the audience between his mother and Mrs Puckett and within seconds of sitting down he heard the sounds of stage lights being switched on and as the red curtain was drawn open he instantly laid his eyes on Sam. There she was standing centre stage under the spotlight. It wasn't the show lights lighting up the stage, it was Sam. Watching her up on that stage was incredible. Freddie could see that being up there was her place, she loved every moment of it. It was a place that made her feel special, a place that brought her to life, a place that made her feel alive and most importantly it was a place where Sam was absolutely phenomenal at everything that she did. Freddie could see that she was happy up there, it was the first time that he had seen her smile since she was a little girl and that meant the world to him.

Once the recital was over and the curtains were closed Sam made her way back stage to get out of her tap dancing costume which she had changed into during the interval. Just as she was about to enter her dressing room though she got distracted by the foot steps running towards her as she heard someone continuously calling her name.

"Sam, Sam, Sam" Mrs Benson called. "You were brilliant" she beamed taking Sam by surprise as she wrapped her up in a hug. "Wasn't she good Freddie?" she then questioned as she turned around to face him.

"She was amazing" Freddie smiled.

"Thanks" Sam replied to the both of them.

"Oh Pam you must be so proud" Mrs Benson gushed as she turned to talk to her friend.

"I'm going to go get changed" Sam announced.

"Okay, I'll see you at school tomorrow" Freddie replied.

"Wait. Are we not going to the duck pond?" Sam suddenly questioned.

"You want to go" Freddie gasped completely stunned. Half of it was a statement and half of it was a question wanting her to confirm it.

"Erm no not exactly" Sam frowned. "I just thought since you said earlier that you were following your traditions that you might like to finish this one. Plus you've made it your duty lately to make my life a misery and drag me places I don't want to go to" she explained.

"Right" Freddie nodded, smiling with amusement. "Go and get changed and I'll wait for you here" he told her.

The pair walked side by side down the side walk on their way to one of their childhood memories. They were both silent for a moment, Sam was busy asking herself what she was up to and Freddie was trying to choose his next words carefully. He didn't know if this was the first step in earning Sam's forgiveness but if it was, then he really didn't want to mess everything up again now.

"So is dance something that you want to be apart of your future?" Freddie asked.

"Defiantly, it's what I love to do. It's what's kept me going all these years" Sam replied and he understood that. "I've been looking at applying to Juilliard" she found herself telling him.

"Wow. Seriously that's amazing" Freddie replied.

"I would be lucky if I even get an audition. The school only takes 12 girls and 12 boys a year for their dance program, I don't think I'd get in" she expressed.

"Yes you would" Freddie disagreed. "I don't think you have any idea how good you were up on that stage tonight. You belong up there" he told her.

"They only offer modern dance and classical ballet though. If I wanted to do tap dancing I would have to go somewhere else" Sam continued. "There's plenty of other good places I can go though like Fordham university in New York or the London Royal Academy of Dance" she told him.

"Do you mean London as in England?" Freddie questioned in surprise.

"Yes. I've always wanted to get as far out of here as possible. London is far away" she simply said.

"Well it looks like you've got a lot of options" he commented as they arrived at their childhood duck pond. "Where here" he then pointed out.

"I can see that" Sam frowned. "I haven't been here in years" she then told him as she watched the ducks swimming around freely. "So what about you? Do you still dream on going to MIT?" she found herself asking.

"I don't know. That was my father's dream and it was all he ever went on about. I rarely see him but when ever I do he still goes on about our deal" Freddie began to explain. "It's slowly become something I'm fully interested in but I sometimes wonder if I should just go somewhere else to get back at him" he commented "Caltech looks good and appealing" he added.

"Make sure you end up going where you want to go. Don't jeopardise your future just to get back at your Dad" Sam told him.

"Thanks" Freddie nodded. "I'm so sorry for everything I've ever done to you. Unlike me your such a decent person" he said apologising once more.

**A/N: Thank you for all your thoughts so far. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, thank you, Nadene. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six: Brad centered**

"Hey" Brad smiled, greeting Freddie at his locker the following morning. "So why are you in school earlier than usual?" he then questioned.

"Oh I didn't even notice" Freddie responded as he frantically searched through his locker feeling rather out of sorts. "If i'm early, what are you doing here?" he then asked.

"My stupid cars playing up. It's in being sorted today so I had to get my mom to drop me off before she went to work" Brad sighed and Freddie nodded. "How was the recital?" he asked.

"Amazing" Freddie smiled. "We actually hung out after" he added and Brad immediately raised an eyebrow extremely eager to know more. "Except I seem to think were getting along and then-" he stopped himself wondering if he should be talking to Brad about this.

"And then" Brad repeated.

"She suddenly becomes all defensive" Freddie continued. "One minute Sam seems happy to be talking to me and then it's like she remembers who she's talking to and suddenly puts her guard back up" he explained.

"You can't just expect her to be completely comfortable around you straight away" Brad told him. "She hasn't even forgiven you and I'm not trying to sound harsh but the way she acts around you is down to the way you've treated her" he pointed out.

"I know" Freddie agreed. "It's just that I'm so mad at myself for the way I've treated her. She's not even going to prom!" he sighed.

"Invite her to go with us" Brad suggested.

"Already tried that" Freddie replied. "Sam never goes to prom or any school event in fact and she doesn't intend on starting to" he explained.

"Speaking of prom you really need to pick your date already. All the cheerleaders are getting tired of waiting around for you to make a decision" he told him.

"I don't want to go with any of them" Freddie replied.

Why should he have to go with any of them especially when he didn't want to? All the cheerleaders lived for was making Sam's life a misery and yes that was all down to him but he didn't want that at all anymore. Freddie was trying to change for the better so why couldn't they? That was something he just couldn't understand and seems he was trying to be a better person he didn't just want to force the cheerleaders into being nice to Sam. He wanted them to be nice to her because they wanted to, not just because they wanted to date him especially since he had no intention in dating any of them.

"Well if your not going with any of them then you need to tell them" Brad begged. "I'm fed up with them constantly asking me who your going with" he moaned with a slight smile.

"I can't do that!" Freddie panicked slightly. "If I do that then they will start being mean to Sam again" he explained.

"What are you going to do about that when prom is over?" Brad questioned.

"After prom is summer break so I figured I'll have three months to come up with something" Freddie replied causing Brad to laugh slightly before the two boys departed off to their first class of the day.

Lunch soon came around and Freddie was yet to see Sam. Yes, he found himself looking for her in each one of his classes but so far she didn't appear to be in any of them. He wanted to have a simple conversation with her just so he could get some sense about how she was feeling after the events of last night. Would she be willing to forgive him or would she be mad at herself for opening up to him and hate him completely all over again? He needed to know. Once Freddie arrived at his usual lunch table he placed his food tray down on the table as he sat down joining his friends and began to pick at his food.

"Have you checked out the new editing software that the AV club just got?" Shane asked.

"Yeh, it looks promising" Freddie nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Where's Brad?" he then questioned.

"He said something about going to talk to Sam" Wendy shrugged.

"What?!" Freddie exclaimed, immediately jumping out of his seat.

"Who's Sam?" Gibby questioned causing everyone to roll their eyes.

Freddie ignored Gibby's question as he began to walk across the school cafeteria heading directly over towards Sam's table. He desperately wanted to know what Brad was up to. Why was he talking to her? He hoped that he wasn't bothering her, he hoped that he wasn't going to mess anything up even more and most importantly he hoped that Brad kept anything Freddie had told him to himself especially things that Sam would have wanted to keep private.

"What are you doing here?" Sam snapped as Brad sat down on the chair across from her without her permission.

"You need to forgive Freddie" he ordered.

"Excuse me" she frowned.

"It's just he's constantly beating himself up about all the stuff he's done to you and it's not the nicest of things to see. Freddie's admitted that he's done wrong, what else can he do? He's trying to change and he can't do that unless you allow him to" Brad told her. "Just forgive him so we can put this behind us and all be friends like we used to be" he begged.

"What makes you think I'm going to forgive you?" Sam asked. "You've done wrong as well and here you are just assuming that if I forgive Freddie I'll forgive you. At least Freddie's apologised, you haven't" she shot at him.

"Sam, I'm sorry-" he started.

"Don't apologise now. You don't mean it, you just want to be friends again because that's what Freddie wants" Sam snapped, raising her voice slightly and causing a few people to turn around and stare.

"What's going on?" Freddie questioned as he interrupted the two of them from their heated conversation.

"Great job Benson, it was such a good idea sending your friend here to do your dirty work for you" Sam fired at him.

"Whoa! He didn't send me here" Brad tried to assure her.

"Sure you didn't, it's not like you haven't done that before" Sam shouted, rolling her eyes.

"Sam people are staring" Freddie pointed out softly.

"That never stopped you before when it was you humiliating me" Sam pointed out. "Just leave me alone" she demanded.

Both boys decided that it was best to do exactly that for now . This was down to her doing exactly what Freddie had said she often does, she puts her guard back up after it suddenly drops down. Freddie and Brad turned around and began to retrace their steps back to their lunch table as the entire cafeteria watched them in complete silence. That outburst had certainly put on a show. They quietly and awkwardly popped themselves back down in their seats and wished that everyone would stop staring at them.

"So that didn't go to well then" Wendy pointed out.

"Obviously not" Brad responded.

"I'm gonna go talk to her" Wendy smiled as she got up out of her seat.

Wendy liked the fact that she actually sort of had a decent relationship with Sam. She knew she had earned it after everything she had done for Sam over the years. Now if only Sam would actually accept that Wendy was truly her friend. Sam deserves a friend after everything that she's been through, so why couldn't it be Wendy? She just didn't understand that.

"So, what's going on?" Wendy asked casually.

"I'm eating my lunch" Sam replied.

"You know what I mean" she smiled.

"I don't know" Sam shrugged.

"You need to make your mind up whether your forgiving him or not" Wendy told her.

"I've already made my mind up" Sam replied.

"Okay" Wendy nodded. "But just to let you know, Freddie didn't send Brad here" she informed her.

"Do you think I should forgive him?" Sam questioned.

"That's completely up to you" Wendy answered.

**A/N: Ooooh, will Sam forgive him? Thanks for your reviews, please review this chapter! Thank you, Nadene. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Revealing All**

A number of days went by, five in fact and it had become clear that Sam was avoiding Freddie. He had tried talking to her on many different occasions but instead of yelling at him Sam was now using the silent treatment. She wouldn't say a word when Freddie tried to approach her, she would just turn in the opposite direction and walk away as quickly as she could. It appeared though that both Sam and Freddie were extremely stubborn because neither of them were giving up. Sam wanted nothing to do with him and even with the amount of times Sam had slammed her locker shut on him before scurrying off Freddie was still eager for her forgiveness and with him running out of options today was the day that he was resulting in what felt like his final option.

As soon as school had finished for the day Freddie found himself pulling up in his car outside Sam's house. He stayed sat there for a moment as he wondered whether or not this would be a good idea. This was something he had wanted to do anyway from the very beginning so if he didn't do it now he would be doing this later. Freddie then picked up a garment bag from the seat next to him before getting out of his car and making his way towards Sam's front door.

"Hi, Mrs Puckett" Freddie greeted as the front door opened. "Is Sam home?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not, she has a fitting for her new dance shoes" Mrs Puckett apologised.

"That's alright, I was hoping to talk to you anyway" Freddie replied and he was indeed invited in.

Pam Puckett took a seat on her couch and motioned for Freddie to sit down also. He stayed stood up for a few moments as he took in his surroundings before remembering what he was there to do. He spotted a nearby handle rail and took a few steps over to it.

"This is for Sam" he stated as he hung the garment bag up before taking a seat on the other couch which was opposite Mrs Puckett.

"So what can I do for you?" she asked with a smile.

"I need to talk to you" Freddie told her.

"You can talk to me about anything" she assured him suddenly feeling rather concerned.

"There's a reason Sam doesn't go to prom and there's a reason why she's home all the time on weekends" Freddie started, wondering once more if this was a good idea. "She doesn't have any friends" he told her.

"What do you mean?" Mrs Puckett laughed assuming that this was a joke. "Of course she does" she insisted.

"She doesn't" Freddie corrected. "I don't know why she's never told you what's happened over the years but I think it's best that I tell you now. I feel that I need to tell you" he insisted.

"Please continue" Mrs Puckett urged as her facial expression and tone of voice instantly turned very concerned.

"There's no easy way to tell you this and I can't tell you how much I regret what I've done. Since my parents split up and everyone thought you had an affair with my father I've blamed it all on Sam. I took everything out on her, I took everyone away from her and I'm so sorry" he began to explain. "I've done some awful things to her" he added.

"So you've been bullying my daughter" Mrs Puckett stated and Freddie nodded.

He couldn't tell how Mrs Puckett was feeling. At the moment she looked shocked, her eyes were bulged out and it was as if she couldn't quite believe what he was telling her. He understood that though because over the years Sam hadn't told her a thing, she had let her believe that her life was great when really it was the complete and total opposite. It was a lot to take in.

"But I was under the impression that you both were getting along lately" she frowned.

"Erm...I've been trying to be her friend again and at times we have got along like at her dance recital. Sam doesn't forgive me though, she won't even talk to me now. I preferred it when she was yelling at me because that way I could gather some sense about how she was feeling" he explained. "I really want to be her friend again. I've missed her and I need to forgive myself for what I've done" he tried to assure her.

"You've bullied my daughter" Mrs Puckett stated once as she slowly came to her senses. "Does your mother know about this?" she questioned.

"No but I'm happy to tell her if you want me to" Freddie replied.

"No!" she insisted, waving her arms in the air. "Don't you dare hurt your mother like you've just hurt me!" she warned him.

"What's going on?" questioned Sam as she entered the living room.

Freddie and Mrs Puckett instantly turned their heads to meet Sam's gaze where the teenage girl appeared to be looking extremely confused, concerned and annoyed which caused Freddie to worry even though it was the reaction that he was expecting. It wasn't like she was going to be thrilled to be seeing him at her home once again. Freddie then watched the scene in front of him carefully as Sam crossed her arms as Mrs Puckett stood up from the couch getting ready to talk.

"Sam, why didn't you ever tell me what's been happening to you over the years?" her mother asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned.

"You know what I mean" she replied causing Sam to look directly at Freddie.

"You told her!" Sam shouted at him.

"Yes I know and I'm sorry" Freddie apologised as he to stood up from the couch. "But I had to" he said trying to defend himself.

"Why? To get me to talk to you I bet!" Sam guessed. "Well guess what! I'm definitely talking to you now!" she shouted again, raising her voice even more.

"I'm trying to make things right-" he started.

"By doing the one thing I didn't want to happen" Sam snapped, cutting him off. "Why couldn't you just leave me alone? I was taking thinking time. I was stupidly considering forgiving you!" she admitted.

"You were going to forgive me" Freddie stated.

"I was considering it" Sam corrected him. "But now I know not to" she told him and that ounce of hope on Freddie's face immediately disappeared.

"Freddie I think it will be best for you to leave" Mrs Puckett interrupted. "You and I will talk again soon but I need to talk to Sam first" she told him.

That's exactly what Freddie did. He left the house as quickly as he could feeling that he may have just screwed everything up for good and that wasn't what he wanted at all. Part of him still felt good that Mrs Puckett now knew what had been going on because now maybe she could finally help Sam move on.

"Hold it right there young lady" Pam Puckett called as Sam tried to escape up the stairs to her bedroom. "We haven't even begun at talking" she told her and Sam immediately huffed as she collapsed down on the couch dreading this upcoming conversation. "Why didn't you tell me what had been going on?" she asked once more.

"I just forgot" Sam shrugged.

"What do you mean you just forgot?" her mother questioned. "I feel like I haven't been doing my parental responsibilities all of a sudden. All these years I thought you were fine and had friends but now I've just found out it's the complete opposite. It's heartbreaking" she told her.

"I guess I just got used to living my life the way it turned out that it became so normal. I just didn't get around to filling you in on all the details" Sam explained honestly. "Plus when Marissa came back into your life I didn't want to cause another feud between you both by filling you in on everything" she added.

"So, you don't have any friends?" Pam questioned which was returned with a painful smile from Sam. "That's so sad" she cried.

"I'm used to it" Sam sighed.

**A/N: Oh Freddie, what have you done now? Thank you for all your lovely feedback and thank you to the person who likes my name! Hope you all liked this chapter, please review this one. Thank you, Nadene.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight: Midnight Blue**

Sam Puckett sat on the window sill in her bedroom lost in her own thoughts as she admired the view that was in front of her. Sam's head was resting gently on the window, she was still in her pyjamas with a blanket wrapped around her and it was as if she had been there for hours. When she heard a knock on her bedroom door she chose to ignore it not wanting to talk to anyone but her Mom being the mother she was just walked straight in.

"Your going to be late for school" Pam Puckett pointed out.

"I'm not going to school today" Sam told her.

"Why not?" she questioned.

"Don't worry I'm not going to miss anything" Sam tried to assure her mother. "All today will involve is everybody talking about prom and gushing about their dates and dresses" she confessed.

"Would you be telling me this if Freddie didn't reveal everything to me yesterday?" her mother asked.

"Probably not" Sam shrugged.

"I wish you had told me" Mrs Puckett told her once more. "I wish I could have done something to help you" she added.

"I told you I didn't get round to it. Plus when Melanie moved away to boarding school it did something to you and you went off the rails and turned into a hopeless mother. It's just these past few years that you've sorted yourself out, I didn't want to drop a bomb on you that would turn you into a bad mother once more" Sam explained.

"I guess I understand that" Mrs Puckett nodded. "If you want to go to prom though-" she started.

"Why would I want to go to prom?" Sam questioned slightly defensive. "I'd be alone, I have no friends, nobody would want me there and plus prom is totally over rated" she ranted.

"Freddie would want you there" Mrs Puckett simply replied.

"Are you saying I should forgive him? Sam frowned. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten what he's done to me" she warned her.

"I'm saying that maybe it's worth hearing what he's got to say. Plus, it's okay to forgive him if you want to" Mrs Puckett assured her.

"I don't want to forgive him" Sam told her.

"I think you don't want to want to forgive him. If Freddie's going to make you happy then maybe you should" her mother expressed. "He left this for you yesterday" she then told her as she laid the garment bag down on Sam's bed before leaving her bedroom to give her the space and thinking time that was needed.

Sam looked at the garment bag that was laying down on her bed wondering if she even wanted to open it. If she didn't open it then she wouldn't have to deal with whatever was inside it but if she didn't then she wouldn't know what her options were. Sam pulled her blanket off of her body as she got up onto her feet making her way towards her bed. Her hand found its way onto the bag where she pondered once more about opening it. Eventually though the zip slid open and revealed a prom dress, a very beautiful one in fact. It was blue, midnight blue, the colour of the sky when the night was drawn by a full moon. It was hard to take her eyes off of it but once Sam did she noticed a note from Freddie himself which attached to the bag.

**Sam, **

**I've probably told your mom everything by now and you probably hate me even more than you did before. I had a decent reason for doing so though and I need you to understand that. Come to prom and I'll explain. Come to prom please, you can ask the questions and I'll answer them. There's a beautiful dress here that needs a beautiful girl like you to wear it. People want you at prom Sam, Wendy wants you there and I certainly want you there. So what's stopping you from going? Please come and once again I'm so incredibly sorry for everything that I've ever done. **

**Freddie. **

Sam immediately screwed the piece of paper up in her hand and tossed it into the bin. There was something stopping her from going to prom, she just simply didn't want to go. Why couldn't Freddie just respect her wishes? He just didn't appear to understand her at all. That dress though, it was beautiful, way to beautiful for Sam in her opinion. Even though she was adamant that she wasn't going to prom, there was absolutely nothing from stopping her from just trying the dress on.

...

"Sorry I'm late!" Gibby called as he joined his group of friends at their allocated prom table. "I was just admiring the blonde girl outside. I know I'm supposed to be with Tasha but whoa!" he expressed.

"Excuse me" Freddie immediately replied as he got up from the table, fixed his tie and made his way outside without another word.

Freddie looked around for a while hoping that the blonde girl Gibby saw was Sam. He soon spotted a blonde girl in the near distance, she was wearing red, that wouldn't have been Sam and that was his inch of hope gone. When turning around to re-enter the building she was right there in front of him, they were stood face to face, she took him by surprise, she took herself by surprise and most of all she took Freddie's breath away.

All Sam was wearing was that dress and it was all that was needed. Her hair was down in it's natural curls like it always was, she had no make-up on and her shoes weren't even seen. That dress though, it hugged her curves perfectly. It was made out of the purest silk and like a waterfall the blue silk flowed downwards all the way down to the floor. Sam's fair pale skin was lit up by the darkness of this dress. It was truly breath-taking.

"I knew blue would be your colour" Freddie complimented.

"I don't want to be here" Sam told him, ignoring what he had just said. "I'm not going inside" she added.

"Then what are you doing here?" he questioned.

"I've been walking around asking myself the same thing but I want an explanation" she informed him and Freddie nodded.

"Dance with me" Freddie half insisted, half questioned.

"I told you I'm not going inside" Sam reminded him.

"You don't need to go inside, you can hear the music from right here" Freddie pointed out. "We can talk whilst we dance. Come on you love dancing" he continued as he held out his hand.

Sam stared at Freddie's hand for a moment. He sure was right about one thing, she loved dancing but she was almost certain that she wouldn't love dancing with him. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to get out of there and Freddie wanted to dance so if that was going to make him talk quicker then maybe it would be worth it. She carefully took a hold of Freddie's hand and he stepped forward placing her hands on his shoulders and his around her waist. As soon as he touched her, he felt her tense up. She was uncomfortable and the pair slowly began to sway side by side.

"Start talking" Sam demanded.

"I told your mom because I thought she could help you. You've been miserable and I can see how much pain your in. I thought that if someone you love knew then they would be able to help you move on" Freddie explained.

"By move on do you mean forgive you?" she asked.

"No as much as I want you to forgive me, I want you to be happy" he replied.

"I don't know how to be happy" Sam commented as she began to relax in his arms slightly. "I keep telling you that you can't buy me back. Why have you given me this dress?" she asked.

"I'm sorry" Freddie apologised. "Every girl deserves to go to prom" he shrugged.

"I didn't want to go" she snapped.

"Then I thought wrong" Freddie responded.

"Wow! Sam you look amazing" Wendy complimented her as she suddenly came running towards the pair.

"What's up?" Freddie asked as Sam removed her hands from his shoulders. It didn't go unnoticed though that Freddie's hands were still placed firmly around her waist.

"The cheerleaders know your here Sam, the boys are trying to keep them away" Wendy informed them.

"I've got to go" Sam replied.

"No" Freddie called, grabbing hold of Sam's hand. "Please stay" he begged.

"I've got to go" she insisted as she let go of his hand and scurried off into the distance.

**A/N: Aw, took me a little longer to update than usual, sorry, busy week! Thank you for all your reviews, hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review. Thank you, Nadene. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine: Officially Over**

***3 months later* **

It was the day that Sam had been dreading the most, the day that mean't that summer was officially over and that it was the start of a brand new school year. Her summer had been pretty amazing and coming back to school was certainly going to bring her newly found happiness to an end. She had managed to avoid Freddie and everyone else for the whole three months, which she was proud of but being far away in New York probably had something to do with that. Once Sam had arrived at school that morning, she did the one thing that she always did and headed straight towards her locker. She didn't have to do anything else seems she had put in for her schedule to be sent to her online. As Sam turned the corner down the main school hallway though, she bumped into him straight away where he was standing right beside her locker.

"Go away" Sam demanded. "I can't be dealing with you already" she insisted.

"We really need to talk" Freddie tried to tell her.

"I don't want to talk" Sam told him.

"Well just listen then" Freddie shot at her. "I've been trying to contact you all summer but every time I came by your house your mom would say that you weren't home" he continued.

"That's because I've been away all summer" she informed him.

"Where have you been?" Freddie asked and she didn't reply. "Well, did you get any of my messages at least?" he questioned.

"Nope and it's not like I would have replied to them" Sam answered.

"I'm only trying to sort things out here. You scurried off on prom night and we didn't get to finish talking or our dance" Freddie started. "The cheerleaders have been looking for you all summer. You may hate me Sam, but you need me around to protect you from them now. I managed to keep them away from you until prom but now I can't guarantee it" he explained.

"I don't need you to protect me, I don't want you to protect me, I can protect myself" Sam insisted.

"Since when?" Freddie questioned.

"Since I realised how strong I used to be before you took everything away from me. The reason why I didn't stand up to you and your friends over the years is because I always hoped that me and you would be friends again" Sam told him. "I don't want to be your friend anymore though. You made me weak and I'm ready to be strong" she added.

"I want to be friends again now though. You need a friend" Freddie tried to reason with her.

"I have a friend. I met a girl who has just moved into town with her older brother" Sam told him. "I finally made a friend. Can you please now leave me alone?" she begged.

"Is that really what you want?" Freddie asked and she nodded. "I'm never going to give up on you Sam" he told her before walking away.

Sam sighed as she watched Freddie storm off and she immediately wished that summer wasn't over. She wanted to be back in New York because everything that she wanted was there, like people who cared about her and of course Juilliard. Had Freddie really been looking for her all summer though? That's dedication. Why didn't she get any of his messages? That was something she was going to have to take up with her mother and she certainly planned on it.

"So I've finally got my schedule" a brunette girl called, taking Sam out of her thoughts. "It was a really long line" she sighed.

"That's why I always get mine sent to me online" Sam replied.

"You" the head cheerleader Valerie shouted from across the hall. "We've been looking everywhere for you all summer" she told Sam as she and the other cheerleaders approached her at her locker.

"You clearly didn't look everywhere" Sam responded, taking them all by surprise.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Tasha questioned.

"Let me deal with her" Valerie ordered. "We left you alone like Freddie told us to but he didn't take any of us to prom. Now were extra ticked off" she snapped, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "You will be paying for this" she added.

"I don't think that will be necessary. What's next homecoming or the girls choice dance? Whatever it is, if you even look at me in the wrong way Freddie isn't going to want to go with you" Sam explained. "You know I'm right" she added.

"Look who's got smart all of a sudden" Valerie commented.

"I've always been smart" Sam smiled.

"You look new, what's your name?" Valerie questioned as she turned to the brunette girl.

"Carly Shay" she responded.

"Well it's your lucky day. It seems that you've chosen to hang around with the wrong type of person. You've got the look, us girls will happily take you on as part of the cheerleading squad" Valerie offered.

"No thanks, I like my choices" Carly replied as she and Sam walked off.

"Welcome to my life" Sam smiled.

Freddie, Brad and Wendy stood in shock as they watched the scene in front of them from across the hall. None of them knew that Sam had that in her but to Freddie that just made her even more interesting and as for Wendy she was curious in finding out exactly who that new pretty brunette girl was. The three of them stayed in their current spot watching the cheerleaders closely as they all looked extremely confused and annoyed with the event that had just happened. They now had two people that they hated, Sam Puckett and Carly Shay but Valerie was determined to get Carly Shay apart of the cheerleading squad.

"Who's the brunette?" Wendy questioned.

"I think that's her friend that she made over the summer" Freddie answered. "She's just moved into town apparently" he added.

"What! Are you being serious?" Wendy questioned. "I've always wanted to be her friend and despite everything I've done I've never been good enough!" she exclaimed.

"Wendy calm down-" Brad started.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she warned him, cutting him off. "She won't let me be her friend but she'll just automatically make friends and trust some girl that comes into town and knows nothing about her. It sucks!" she exclaimed once more.

"Don't worry, I'll have a word with her" Freddie tried to assure her as he noticed that Wendy did actually have a point.

"Yes I'm sure that will help, Sam always loves to hear what you've got to say" Wendy shot at him sarcastically before storming off.

"Let her go" Freddie told Brad. "I think she needs time to calm down" he suggested.

**A/N: Please review, thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten: New Friendships**

Sam arrived at her second class of the day, Chemistry, which was a class that she had always hated. She made her way to the back of the class and sat at a desk that best hid her away from everyone else. She was used to practically having the whole back row to herself and having some other lame kid that wanted nothing to do with her as her lab partner. That was why she was so shocked when someone had willingly sat themselves down next to her. As Sam turned to see who exactly that person was though, it was the one and only Freddie Benson.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sam questioned.

"Sitting down" Freddie shrugged.

"You know what I mean" Sam snapped. "How dare you sit here! You know what Mr Henning is like, once you choose where you sit your stuck sat there for the rest of the year" she exclaimed.

"Well I like my choice" he replied.

"Of course you do because you're thinking about what you want again like you always do" Sam rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sitting here because of me, I'm here because I need to talk to you about Wendy" Freddie told her.

"What about her?" Sam questioned.

"I want you to be her friend. Wendy has been there for you for all these years and you've never let her be your friend" Freddie started.

"She's always understood that" Sam cut him off.

"Yes I know but when she saw that you had a new friend today she was hurt" he told her. "She even skipped first period because she's so upset" he added.

"Wendy always skips classes" Sam pointed out.

"Not on the first day back to school, nobody wants to end up in detention just yet. She figured that Ms Ackerman would be too busy pining over the end of her summer romance to notice that she wasn't there" Freddie explained.

"Fine. I'll talk to her later but I'm not promising anything" Sam replied. "You can go and sit with Brad or someone now" she told him.

"No thanks, I want to sit back here all year with you" he smirked and Sam frowned with annoyance.

At break time Carly was busy in the principal's office getting her welcome to Ridgeway High speech and Sam found herself searching high and low around the school for Wendy. She eventually found her, sat on the bleachers outside staring straight ahead at the empty sports field. Both of the girls were quiet for a moment once Sam had finally reached Wendy and Sam even wondered whether Wendy had even noticed her. Sam thought about how she should start this conversation between them both, had she really upset her? She would have never of wanted to do that because Wendy had done so much for her over the years.

"I've been looking for you" Sam started. "Can I sit?" she asked and Wendy nodded. "If I've upset you, I didn't mean to. I thought you always understood why I wouldn't be your friend" she said, getting straight to the point.

"I did sort of understand but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be your friend" Wendy replied. "It hurts that you won't be my friend but you will just instantly become friends with a total stranger" she told her.

"It's not that I don't want to be your friend. It's just that all this time you were still friends with Freddie and everyone else" Sam replied.

"You told me you wanted me to stay friends with them" Wendy reminded her.

"I know and I had a reason for that. I didn't want to actually be your friend because then all the awful things they did to me they would have also done to you" Sam admitted. "You wouldn't have deserved any of it" she added.

"You didn't deserve any of it either" Wendy pointed out.

"Yeh well it's all done now" Sam sighed. "But what I'm saying is that if you can deal with being both mine and Freddie's friend then I'd be happy to give it a go" she told her.

"I'd really like that" Wendy smiled.

"Me to" Sam smiled back.

Lunch eventually occurred and practically every pupil at the school made their way to the cafeteria starved and wanting the day to be done with. All first days back to school were tiring and a drag. Sam introduced Carly to the lunch table that she had always sat at and the boys sat at their usual table with the cheerleaders sat to the side of them. Wendy also joined her usual lunch table at the time that she usually does which is much later than everyone else and nobody really knows what exactly she is always up to. She didn't manage to stay there for long though.

"Come with me" Freddie insisted as soon as she sat down.

"Where are we going?" Wendy questioned.

"Just bring your lunch" he told her as the pair started to walk the length of the cafeteria where they eventually ended up at the back of the room at Sam's lunch table to be exact.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked Freddie as soon as she spotted him.

"I'm just dropping Wendy off" Freddie replied as he took her lunch tray and put it down on the lunch table.

"Freddie, what are you doing?" Wendy questioned.

"I don't want you to think I'm trying to get rid of you because I'm not" Freddie started. "But seems you and Sam are friends now I want you to know that it's okay for you to hang out with her instead of me. Not that you would need my permission to anyway. So eat with Sam today and your welcome to hang out with me and the guys whenever you want to" he explained.

"Thank you" Wendy smiled, giving him a hug.

"I guess I'll leave you girls to it" Freddie suggested. "So Wendy and erm-"he began to stutter once he figured out he didn't know the name of the Sam's new friend.

"Carly, I'm Carly" Carly introduced herself.

"So Wendy and Carly, thank you for being better people than me. You both deserve to be Sam's friend" Freddie told them. "I wish I could be Sam's friend" he added, looking straight at Sam. "Enjoy your lunch" he smiled slightly before walking off, heading back to his lunch table.

"What's up with him?" Sam asked Wendy as she sat down.

"I haven't got a clue" Wendy shrugged.

"Is he not usually like that?" Carly asked.

"Not at all" Sam sighed in thought.

**A/N: Hmmm, is something up with Freddie? Thank you for all your reviews, please review this chapter. Thanks, Nadene. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven: Dinner Again! **

Sam arrived home after her long and unusual first day back to school a little later than usual but she was still surprised to find that her mother was already home from work. It wasn't just the fact that Pam Puckett was already home, it was also the fact that she was busy cooking away in the kitchen and if you know Sam's mother you would know that she never ever cooks. Normally she would phone the family caterer to prepare meals or leave Sam money to order take out when she was going to be home late from work.

"Hey Mom" Sam greeted as she joined her mother in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Cooking dinner" Pam simply replied.

"But you never cook" Sam frowned.

"I used to cook all the time before everything happened" her mother replied.

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned.

"Before everything happened between Marissa and I" she answered. "Do you not remember?" she asked.

"No I guess not" Sam shrugged.

"Well that just shows how long its really been" Pam sighed.

"Erm, speaking of Marissa and her son" Sam started. "Did Freddie keep on coming over here this summer looking for me? Did he leave me a bunch of messages?" she asked.

"Yes everyday. I don't think he really did anything else. I would come home from work everyday to find him sat on our doorstep. He would ask if I knew when you would be home, where you were and if I would pass on a message" Pam Puckett explained. "I never told him that you were in New York though because you made it perfectly clear before you left that you didn't want him to know" she added.

"Why didn't you pass on any of these messages?" Sam questioned.

"I thought they would be better if they actually came from Freddie himself. If you really want to find out what he had to say you can find out from him tonight" she told her.

"What do you mean by tonight?" Sam frowned.

"For our back to school meal, it used to be something that we always did. Mrs Benson and I thought we should do it again like we did years ago, that's why I'm cooking" Mrs Puckett explained. "You better go and get changed, they will be here soon" she added.

Sam entered her bedroom thinking about the odd day she had at school. It was strange but also nice seems she would usually have no friends but today and from now on she has two. Even though the day certainly had it's perks there were also so many other reasons why she didn't like it and all of those reasons came under the category of Freddie Benson. It all started with Sam giving him strict instructions to leave her alone but he didn't seem to take that in. Instead Freddie chose to annoy her even more by sitting right next to her in science class which made them lab partners for the entire year. She didn't know that he could make things any worse but of course he managed to, he willingly handed over Wendy and gave her a sappy pity speech. Was he trying to make her feel guilty?

Sam scanned through her closet wondering what exactly she was supposed to wear to a back to school dinner. She finally settled on a cream simple fitted dress that didn't make her look like she was putting in to much of an effort. It wasn't like she actually wanted to attend this dinner, it wasn't like she actually had any say and she certainly didn't want to spend anymore time with Freddie today. Once Sam changed her outfit, she ran her hands through her hair and made her way downstairs knowing that her guests would be arriving soon. She sat herself down on the couch wondering if she wanted to question Freddie about the messages he kept leaving over the summer. She may hate him but for some reason she found herself impressed that he was round her house everyday looking for her and not giving up.

"Good evening Sam, you look lovely" Mrs Benson complimented her once the two Benson's had arrived.

"Thank you" Sam smiled as she stood up from her seat on the couch.

"Would you like a glass of wine Marissa?" Mrs Puckett offered.

"That sounds good" Mrs Benson nodded as she followed Pam into the kitchen leaving Sam and Freddie alone in the living room together.

"Just so you know I didn't know about this dinner. If I did I would have warned you" Freddie told her.

"It's fine, I think we need to talk anyway" Sam replied as she sat back down on the couch.

"What about?" Freddie asked as he took the seat next to her.

"Those messages you kept leaving me this summer, my mom said it's best if they come from you. So, what were they? Why did you keep on coming round here everyday?" she questioned.

"I told you that I wasn't going to give up on you" Freddie started. "I didn't want to spend time with anyone else over the summer. All I wanted was to spend some time with you. I knew you would just shout at me even more but I just wanted to apologise over and over. It even got to the point where I was going to tell my mother everything but your mom convinced me not you. She also told me that she couldn't pass on my messages because you were away all summer" he explained.

"I was in New York" Sam found herself telling him.

"Why New York?" Freddie asked.

"Well to start with it's away from here. Plus Melanie's boarding school is in New York so I went to visit her seems she stayed there for some summer program" Sam answered. "I also took a tour around Juilliard" she added.

"What was it like?" Freddie questioned. "Everything you dreamed of" he guessed.

"And more. I met one of the dance professors, looked at the dance studios, stood on the performance stage and didn't want to leave" she told him, smiling at the thought of it. "If I didn't take the same flight home though, I wouldn't have met Carly" she added.

"Sounds amazing" Freddie commented. "I'm glad it was as good as you imagined" he added.

"You didn't have to practically hand Wendy over to me at lunch today" Sam told him.

"Yes I did" Freddie disagreed. "I did it for Wendy as well as you. That was me thanking her for everything she's done for you over the years and plus you've both been wanting to be friends with each other for a long time now" he explained.

"Well thanks I guess" Sam frowned. "She's still going to be your friend as well though" she muttered slightly.

"You have nothing to thank me for" Freddie assured her. "I didn't mean to annoy you so much in science class today. I'll tell Mr Henning that I need to switch lab partners and move to the front of the class because my eye sight is playing up or something" he shrugged.

"Oh please he will never believe that" Sam replied, rolling her eyes. "I'll keep you as my lab partner. It might actually be nice having someone as my lab partner that actually wants to be it for a change" she told him.

**A/N: So you found out some of the stuff Sam got up to this summer! Thanks to everyone who's reviewing, please keep it up! Thank you, Nadene.**


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